The Seaweed Tickles My Skin (please just stay the same)
by Write Love Letters
Summary: Annabeth packs Percy's camp shirt before getting aboard the Argo II; this is how she gives it back to him. [MOA missing moment]


A/N: set during _Mark of Athena_; there's a scene - the first morning on the ship where Piper notices Percy's wearing his orange camp shirt again. This is me trying to fill in the blanks.

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The Seaweed Tickles My Skin (please just stay the same)

Annabeth unpacks the small knapsack she brought on the trip. Ambrosia, nectar, her Yankee's cap, Daedalus' laptop: they all find a home around the small room she has been assigned on the _Argo II_. She's pulling out her extra clothes when she remembers having hastily stuffed a t-shirt and pair of jeans in her already packed bag back at Camp Half-Blood. The clothes still smell like the ocean – what usually permeated Cabin Three, where she had nicked them from an open drawer. The Camp Half-Blood logo on the front of the shirt is slightly faded and the orange cotton has gone soft with wear. The jeans, too, are worn in the knees and hem.

She had grabbed the clothes on a whim, on the passing idea that he would remember her, them, New York, camp, _everything_. He does, of course, because Percy Jackson's job on earth is to constantly confuse and surprise her. It had been a bright spot in an otherwise bumpy day, one less thing to worry about and plan around. Of course, Annabeth trusts Piper and Jason and Leo to have her back in the middle of a fight – just like she has theirs – but their support wasn't the same kind of constant strength and confidence that Percy always brought out in her. She needs him – stupid Seaweed Brain and all – on a quest of this breadth. She needs the one person who is always on her side, especially as the token her mom gave her burns grimly in her pocket.

Crossing the narrow hallway, Annabeth knocks on the door to Percy's quarters. Hedge – their chaperone (and Annabeth still wishes Grover had been available because end-of-Olympus quests don't feel right without him begging for an enchilada pit stop) – had been adamant on the rules, but Annabeth figures since she and Percy never really follow the "guys and girls can't be in a cabin by themselves" guideline at Camp, why start on a boat flying over the continental United States. She clutches at the clothes in her hands, shifting in annoyance when Percy doesn't answer the door immediately. She raises her fist, mid-pose to knock a second time, when the wooden door opens and Percy appears with his usual grin and dark, messy hair.

Taking in the blue pajama bottoms, Annabeth raises an eyebrow, "Did you just wake up?"

"Nah," answers Percy, bringing up an arm to rub the back of his neck. "You guys take forever in the bathroom. I've been waiting for it to open up for like an _hour._"

Annabeth grins and brushes past her boyfriend to sit on his bed. The walls of the bedroom are painted bright blue, compared to the butter yellow of Annabeth's and not for the first time does she wonder how much thought Leo put into the ship's customizations. She hands Percy the clothes and his face light up in recognition.

"Thought you might want something other than that toga," she tells him nonchalantly. "I almost forgot that I had grabbed it and I know that Leo packed extra camp shirts just in case we, like, needed them. But, I figured you'd want some of your own stuff." Her grey eyes stare at a spot on his bedspread, fingers worrying the fabric.

Percy places the clothes on his small dresser and sits on the bed next to Annabeth. He gently places a hand on her cheek, fingers burrowing in her blonde curls (_princess curls_, his fractured mind whispers and he finds himself searching for the single grey streak, the one that showed just how strong his girlfriend is). "Thank you," he says sincerely. "With everything you had to bring, I'm surprised a change of clothes for me ranked really high on the priority list."

Annabeth looks up, finally, the pain from the last six months clouding the edges of her stare, "You're always priority number one, Seaweed Brain."

Percy grins and presses a kiss to her lips, hoping to dispel any remaining sadness. The two of them sit on his bed, wrapped up in the moment, until a bell starts loudly clanging.

"I guess I should take that shower," Percy says ruefully, running a hand through his hair. "Look a little more human." He holds up the clothes and frown, "There's like shampoo and stuff on this trireme right?"

Annabeth grins brightly and rolls her eyes again, "Check the supply room. I'm sure Chiron tripled checked that we stocked enough stuff to maintain hygiene in there." She gets up from the bed and heads toward the door when Percy stops her, his hand circling gently around Annabeth's wrist.

"Save me a spot at breakfast, Wise Girl?" His sea-green eyes express far more emotions than the simple request, but Annabeth hasn't stuck around Percy's side this long without learning to read between the lines. _I love you_ and _I missed you_ are staring back at her from his face, but all Annabeth replies with is, "Of course, dork. Don't use all the hot water."

When Percy enters the mess hall half an hour later, in all of his orange shirt glory, Annabeth finally feels like she can breathe again, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are finally fitting after hours of frustration. If she squints, it could almost be as if the last six months had never happened and they were at Camp, sharing a blueberry muffin on the beaches of Long Island Sound. The image fades from her mind with the next slide of Half Blood Hill on Leo's screen, but for that one moment Annabeth thinks that everything will turn out okay.

(And then Piper has to talk and it all goes downhill from there, but that's a story for another time.)


End file.
